Came back from France with wine and a creak..

Just got home from a month in France, covering around 2400 miles, and had a great time.
We drove from Brittany down through Bordeaux to the Pyrenees, across to the med, on to Provence, up into the Rhone Alps back over to Bordeaux, up to Brittany and back to Calais this morning.
We travelled along hundreds of miles of very poor roads and while travelling through the Alps, we noticed a creaking noise coming from the overcab area when we changed direction and was more noticeable going around and off roundabouts. It appeared to be coming from the open cupboard areas either side of the over cab area. If I put my hand on the woodwork, I could feel the very slight movement.
So, what has caused this to happen now?
The cupboard above the drivers side is screwed to the base with 2 screws. The other side has no screws. 
Anyway, I thought the miles of bad roads had loosened something and went round tightening all the screws holding the over cab woodwork in place.
No difference.
I undid the 2 screws in the base of the cupboard, it got a little quieter, but was still there.
Then I thought, maybe the whole body is loose and crawled underneath to check the bolts holding the body to the chassis. They all seemed loose, I  was able to tighten them all up by a half to one full turn.
No difference.
Next, I took the padded bar off the edge of the overcab, above the curtain rail to see if anything was loose or could be tightened. No, the wood is bonded to the top of the cab metalwork and seems secure.
So, I am lost now.
Anybody else have this problem? 
Any ideas how to fix this without taking it to AS, it's now out of warranty.
Allan

Allan, we are here in Portugal, and are concerned with your issues as we have the same cab front as yours. Surely if it is a major structural issue, then A/S are responsible for sorting it out, regardless of being out of warranty! I would speak to Mark quickly.

Pete

Out of warranty you may be protected by normal consumer legislation but any redress must be sought from the supplying dealer, not the manufacturer.

My advice would be to ignore the noise if nothing is dropping off.

Often two wooden walls butt against each other, the contact tension varying with shelf loading/distribution, temperature and humidity. The creaking noise made as they move against each other can sound terrible. The technician at one very reputable dealer addressed this by spraying silicone lubricant between the walls on one of my previous vans but the cure didn't last long.

If you do find the offending joint you could put a bolt through both walls to clamp them together but that will probably generate movement elsewhere so I would leave well alone.

A couple of years ago the knock that developed from the steering on turning corners turned out to be a flask in an over cab locker, forgotten about and not seen when the scarf that was wedging it in was removed. It took a couple of weeks to find!

I had a squeek from the shelf above the passenger seat and after much investigation found it to be slight movement between the shelf and the upright wood. Temp fixed by pulling the joint open with the help of Mrs S and inserted a fuel receipt in the ( very small ) gap. Now fixed permenantly using a thin plastic.
By the way our dealer could not find the cause in spight of a two day investigation.

David.S wrote:I had a squeek from the shelf above the passenger seat and after much investigation found it to be slight movement between the shelf and the upright wood. Temp fixed by pulling the joint open with the help of Mrs S and inserted a fuel receipt in the ( very small ) gap. Now fixed permenantly using a thin plastic.
By the way our dealer could not find the cause in spight of a two day investigation.

I've tried several variations of that before but they always drop out sooner or later. If you can get the gap big enough a self adhesive felt pad is good.

Got under the van again today now we are home and tightened all the body to chassis bolts again, no idea what torque they are supposed to be, but I nipped them up pretty tight. 
The creaking is coming from very slight movement between the wooden shelf and the upright panels of the two side cupboards, just like you mention David. One side was screwed to the shelf, the other wasn't.  I tried tightening the screws, loosening the screws and leaving them out altogether. Still creaks. I already tried packing the gap with a thin piece of plastic on one side. Might do it to both sides then try some French chalk blown into the gaps to see if that helps.  
The movement is barely perceptible but bl**dy annoying! I might try your tip Pete if the chalk doesn't help.
I will be taking the van to the dealers shortly, AS have authorised them to adjust the angle of the LPG tank so the gauge works properly, and because it was fitted incorrectly......
I'll have a word about the creaking then to see if they can suggest a more permanent cure. I'll tell them about the body bolts too to see if they have any comments about why they were loose.

In all events, we will be selling the van shortly, we have decided on a massive size upgrade to something built across the Atlantic.

ajrm wrote:I will be taking the van to the dealers shortly, AS have authorised them to adjust the angle of the LPG tank so the gauge works properly, and because it was fitted incorrectly......

Aaaaaaaaaaagggggggghhhhhhhhhhh -  not another one fitted incorrectly by the A/S factory!!!!!

'Fraid so! When I contacted AS they sent me a diagram showing 3 different positions it could be fitted asking me to tick the one that resembled mine!
So, it looks like the have at least 2 ways it could be fitted incorrectly.